GRETZKY TO WEAR MICROPHONE FOR THURSDAY'S GAME

GAME ALSO FEATURES DARREN PANG WORKING THE GAMEFROM BETWEEN TEAM BENCHES AND DEBUT OF"HD THURSDAY NIGHTS WITH THE COYOTES"

For the second season in a row, FSN Arizona will outfit Phoenix Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky with a microphone for one of its telecasts and it's just one of three unique production elements set for this Thursday's Coyotes telecast from Glendale Arena against the Los Angeles Kings.

Gretzky has agreed to wear a microphone for this game that can be seen this Thursday, Oct. 19, only on FSN Arizona and throughout the game, viewers will be able to hear from Gretzky and gain insight into what he has to say to his players, coaches and the referees. The network's coverage gets started live from Glendale Arena at 6:30 p.m. with Qwest Coyotes Live, hosted by Todd Walsh.

In addition to Gretzky wearing a microphone, FSN Arizona will place analyst Darren Pang at ice level from in-between the Coyotes and Kings benches to provide viewers with a new and different perspective for the telecast. His broadcast partner Curt Keilback will remain upstairs in the duo's usual announce booth position and the pair will be able to interact throughout the game.

The telecast will also mark the debut of "HD Thursday Nights With the Coyotes." The first of 10 Coyotes games that will be available in High Definition this season, the game can be seen in HD across the state of Arizona. In 2006-07, all Coyotes games on HD will air on Thursday nights.

The HD telecast can be seen on Cox Communications by its digital cable subscribers who have an HDTV set and HD Digital Converter on channel 722. DIRECTV offers all FSN Arizona HD games in the Phoenix DMA on channel 96. DIRECTV also offers a portion of FSN HD games inside and outside of Phoenix on channel 95. For more information on whether the game will be televised in HD on home satellite or cable systems, viewers should contact their provider.

FSN Arizona, which is celebrating its tenth year on the air, continues to televise the most regional sports action in the state and is the exclusive cable television home of the Phoenix Coyotes, Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns, Arizona Cardinals, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Arizona Rattlers and Phoenix Mercury. The network is currently seen in 2.3 million households in Arizona & New Mexico and can also be seen across the country via home satellite services.